The Jungle – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Title
The Jungle – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Website
Designed by
ROOM+ Design & Build
Image Credit
© Sonmeo Nguyen Art Studio
Project Description
Project description provided by ROOM+ Design & Build - In the dense urban fabric of Vietnam’s big cities, small-scale mixed-use developments have emerged as a response to the dominance of typical shophouses. Ideally, this. building type, when coupled with solid business models and thoughtful design solution, unlocks a site’s potential, benefitting not just owners and tenants but the broader community. Yet too often, rushed and poorly designed projects have resulted in unsafe, uncomfortable, and inefficient commercial buildings.
The Jungle was designed and built from a different ambition - a bold answer to a challenging brief: fitting over 800 square meters of retail, commercial, and residential space into a compact 300-square-meter south-facing site on a busy street, just ten minutes from the city center. Adding complexity, the local masterplan required a 12-meter setback and a chamfered southwest corner for a future road expansion. The neighborhood, with its mix of low-rise homes and shops, reflects the vibrant yet chaotic face of urban Vietnam.
The building’s program is a tightly orchestrated blend: a 150-square-meter basement; over 300 square meters of retail and commercial spaces; nine flexible one-bedroom apartments of 30 to 45 square meters; and a rooftop café and co-working space. A rear-positioned vertical circulation core and meticulously planned service zones maximize usable area, while column-free layouts maximize commercial spaces and some apartments might be combined to adapt to future needs.
